In the just gone Leu auction 8 I had my eye (and wallet) on this Philip coin. Fantastic condition for this type unfortunately others must have thought the same as the bidding went crazy and I got left in the dust. Here it is below..... Propylaeum of the Temple of Zeus-Heliopolites Lot 836 SYRIA, Coele-Syria. Heliopolis. Philip I, 244-249. Starting price: 75 CHF Hammer price: 550 CHF SYRIA, Coele-Syria. Heliopolis. Philip I, 244-249. Tetrassarion (Bronze, 27 mm, 12.49 g, 1 h). IMP CAES M IVL PHILIPPVS PIVS FEL AVG Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Philip I to right, seen from behind. Rev. COL HEL / IO M H Propylaeum of the Temple of Zeus-Heliopolites; a flight of steps with a pedestal at each end leads to a portico of twelve columns with a tower at each end; in the pediment over arched entrance, a cypress tree; in exergue, altar between two uncertain objects. BMC 16 var. and SNG Righetti 2167 var. (differing reverse legend). Patina stripped, otherwise,very fine. But didn't want to leave dissapointed so I jumped on this below, and scored it at a reasonable price. Lot 933 Petillius Capitolinus, 43 BC. Starting price: 50 CHF Hammer price: 130 CHF Petillius Capitolinus, 43 BC. Denarius (Silver, 17 mm, 3.69 g, 2 h), Rome. PETILLIVS - CAPITOLINVS Eagle standing front on thunderbolt, wings spread and head to right. Rev. S - F Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus with figures on the roof and the architrave; between central four columns, garlands hanging. Babelon (Petillia) 3. Crawford 487/2b. RBW 1706. Sydenham 1151. Banker's marks on the obverse and a scrape on the obverse, otherwise, very fine. The reverse legend S - F on this coin probably stand for sacris faciundis and is likely connected to the cult practiced in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the most important sanctuary in Rome. , 43 BC. ANY OTHER PETILLIVS - CAPITOLINVS COINS THAT WE CAN SHARE OR AUCTION WINS.
I've lost quite a few dream coins recently :/ but theres always more coins out there. Congrats on the new addition tough.
Bummer. Way to show restraint and not reach. I personally reached for a coin in this auction and while the coin is nice, its not a good habit. Another one will come calling and with any luck you'll come out on top. I quite like the coin you DID win with so I hope that it helps take the sting off..
Thanks you are right it's not worth it if they are overpriced, you usually get another chance down the track, I appreciate your's and randygeki's commiserations.
Here's one of my 3 wins from Leu this weekend. The other 2 have already been posted in other threads. I love that this coin has a curse written on it. 'Cursed is whomever disrespects/ abuses this Dirham' Lot 1879 ISLAMIC, Anatolia & al-Jazira (Post-Seljuk). Artuqids (Mardin). Qutb al-Din Il-Ghazi II, AH 572-580 / AD 1176-1184. Dirham (Bronze, 35 mm, 15.50 g, 10 h), uncertain mint (Mardin?), 577 AH = 1181/2. Two Byzantine style busts, draped and wearing headwear, the larger bust with dishevelled hair, the smaller bust with a close-fitting hat; above, AH date in Kufic. Rev. Legend in Kufic bearing the name of the Abassid caliph al-Nasir li'l-Din, the Comander of the Faithful; the genealogy of Qutb al-Din Il-Ghazi II naming his father, Najm al-Din, and his grandfather, Husam al-Din, only by their laqabs; and a curse condemning every person, who abuses this dirham. Spengler & Sayles 32. A boldly struck and attractive piece. Repatinated and with a minor scrape on the obverse, otherwise, about extremely fine. The obverse is probably a depiction of an astrological event which took place in 576 AH = 1180/1 AD, when the planet Mercury passed the face of the Sun. If this interpretation is correct, the larger bust, with disheveled hair resembling flames, represents the sun, whereas the smaller bust is an image of the planet Mercury.
Fantastic condition, congrats on such a large well detailed coin. Not an expert but my guess is that coin would be rare in that condition.
Yes, the Leu auction had several Turkoman bronzes is in excellent shape - obviously someone selling off their collection. Your assessment would be correct. Much like the AE drachms of Alexandria these are usually in rough condition.
Too bad about the one that got away. But that Denarius is beautiful mate, a lovely silver metal (ha! See what I did there?) I think a late Republic Denarius is the next on my list, before I finish my "Good 5 Emperors"
Too bad you didn't score the coin but there are always more out there. I love architectural types and the last one I got was this Phillip the Arab from Zeugma from @John Anthony - because there were five of them in the auction (I think) the prices did not go crazy... COMMAGENE, Zeugma. Philip II and II.247-249 AD. Æ31, 19.2g; 6h (a nice chunky coin, how about that?) Obv.: AYTOK K M IOYΛI ФIΛIΠΠOC CЄB; Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev.: ZЄYGM-ATЄΩN; Peribolos containing grove of trees, seen in perspective; tetrastyle temple in distance, draped figure within (Zeus?); in exergue, capricorn to right. Reference: Butcher 31c; BMC 35.
Sorry that dream coin got away from you, AA. It looks like a fantastic architectural type. I hope you get your chance at another example soon. The Petillius Capitolinus is a nice consolation prize. Here's a slightly different depiction of the same temple from a few decades earlier. ROMAN REPUBLIC AR Denarius. 3.65g, 17.1mm. Rome mint, 75 BC, Crawford 385/1; Sydenham 774; Volteia 1. M. Volteius M.f., moneyer. O: Laureate head of Jupiter right. R: Façade of the Aedes Iovis Optimi Maximi Capitolini (Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill), with winged thunderbolt in pediment; M. VOLTEI. MF in exergue.
Thanks zumbly, your's is a great example and still my favorite out of the two types as the celator seemed to have spent a lot more time on detail and realism than the Petillius types.
Sorry you lost your main target, AA. But as zumbly said, that temple of Jupiter is an excellent consolation prize! I guess there were some architectural collectors tracking the auction, but Byzantine silver collectors were clearly asleep at the wheel. I got a couple screaming deals and one totally insane deal. (For a future post, but you're free to speculate. ) Since @Nvb posted his lovely Islamic bronze that he won in the auction (did the person who scraped the obverse suffer a gruesome death?), I'll post the one I snagged, a Saladin with a nice lion:
Here's Cr. 487/1 from the same year as the OP's coin - I still need a Cr. 487/2. Obv. CAPITOLINVS - Bare head of bearded Jupiter right; Rev. PETILLIVS - Capitoline Temple of Jupiter: richly decorated hexastyle façade with ornamented pediment and garlands hanging within three openings; 3.85g, 18mm, 12h. ATB, Aidan.
I had my eye on the lot just before my OP which featured your type but no where near as good it sold for over double mine, so figured it was overpriced and happier with mine.
